40 512 Body and Space Morphologies : Catharsis II

Prerequisites

Passed foundation level (bachelor in architecture) and a desire to conduct your own experimental artistic research on architectural phenomena and conditions

Recommended prerequisite knowledge

Attendance of one of the elective courses (autumn 2014, 2015 or 2016) on Body & Space Morphologies : Architecture & Film

Course content

Introduction: Body and Space Morphologies

Body and Space Morphologies is a research based teaching program that offers a series of elective courses and master studios in explorative architectural design, sensing and thinking. The aim of the studio course series is to work and deeper investigate primal architectural phenomena and conditions, and to develop those into experienced distinct architectural sensations or interests. The studio courses are for students that wish to create their own architectural problem(s); students who either have an urge to seek deeper into particular architectural issues or who want to challenge their own creative process and to get to know themselves better in the making of an architecture. Beyond the success of a mere problemsolving and/or established architectural critique, Body and Space Morphologies studios prepare and try to enable students to conduct their own architectural artistic research (1).

Catharsis . Acting the Collective #II (Fall 2016):
Students are to develop their own personal architectural program in relation to a social construct, a built autonomous construct and a desired connection to nature/environment. The topic for the Body and Space Morphologies studio course series is CATHARSIS; an inspiration to “Act The Collective” or to “Act Because Of The Collective” either as the architectural “relief from strong or repressed emotions” or as the subversive antonym to it “causing repression and/or strong emotions”. How to free and architecturally act a desire driven emotive collective, or how to conceive architecture in response to such a collective, is the task for these semesters. The studio works on the subthemes of “expression, language and the inexpressible”.

The Task:
Spatially to release your necessity to make something because of something. To act, react or enact the collective (a chosen group of individuals; e.g. spectators, visitors, dwellers, workers, travellers, onlookers, mourners, guests, ill, suppressed, free, animals, people etc.) through a distinct architecture / architectural awareness. To experience, reflect upon and describe the necessity/necessities made.

(1) Artistic research as an artistic parallel to scholarly research in general is enshrined in the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges, cf. Section 1.1, as a joint goal for higher education institutions in Norway. The subject area of art encompasses the whole arts field as it is manifested in Norwegian institutions of higher education. (http://artistic-research.no/kunstnerisk-utviklingsarbeid/?lang=en)

Learning outcomes

Knowledge:
The ability to prepare and conduct an advanced visual experimental architectural design research; including process preparation/adaption, development of own working method, critical verbal/written reflection on the basis of ones own visual material, and the conclusion of the research in a final presentation and exhibition at AHO Works. The studio reviews contemporary art and architecture theory, literature and philosophy, stressing architectural work that is intuitive in the making yet conscious in the further programming and development of a precise visual and written argumentation towards an architecture with a social content and a refined relationship with nature/culture. The students learn how to conceive and perceive architectural form, space and body within the autonomous and un-programmed architectural construct, and how to further discuss the occurring architectural phenomena as conditions within a body and space morphology discourse.

Skills:
The course is concentrated on physical model-works supported by narrative drawings. Students will gain expertise in the making and exploring of independent and new visual material, and learn to trust their ability to both conceive and present/communicate unique architectural content/research through that visual material and the phenomena or conditions experienced through it. The students discover, retrieve and nourish architectural ideas from an immediate and impulsive reaction (model-works) to a self-employed awareness of social needs and wants, and to further their architectural discoveries into spatial constructions, drawings, film/photography and textual works towards a new architecture, nature, culture.

Competence:
The course offers a tight studio environment with three weekly lectures and/or film screenings on relevant projects, ideas and theories in art and architecture, literature, philosophy and the sciences. It conducts four extensive public reviews before the final crit and exhibition. The students will get highly trained in presenting their own visual material together with verbal and written reflections on their process and feel confident/enabled to conduct an experimental discursive space in architecture, on the basis of their own work and research.

The goal of the studio is to skill students towards independent and self-sufficient artistic architectural research that produces new architectural content, awareness and ideas; preparing them both for their final experimental architectural thesis/diploma but also for an artistic parallel to scholarly research in general (e.g. the alternative PhD as offered by the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme). In general, students are enabled to trust their creative work and to develop strong and independent yet sufficient architectural content and ideas. They mature in their personal architectural awareness and should be able to make their artistic voice heard, no matter what context they operate in.

Working and learning activities

The main activity is the artistic research / architectural design on the individual project (studio-works as described above). We work with our hands to create and force immediate physical models and use narrative drawings and descriptive or creative writings in a search for sensory architectural qualities. We strive for a creative open and individual driven new architectural content with a clear focus on architectural space/body and the urge to experience how this architecture, understood as morphology, relates to nature, culture and society; creating awareness for how we as individuals, and as a group or collective of individuals, relate to these our creations and learning to explore and comprehend the meaningless meaningful closeness in that relationship.

The semester starts by reflecting the past and current times with their socio cultural changes as well as various artistic practices and tries to identify and discuss changes or ideas that had both determined and determent our reading of architectural space and body as instrument to influence our way of living. We will be critical to ideas, work on primary architectural properties, make discoveries and develop them into distinct architectural interests toward a new nature, culture, and architecture. The studio beliefs in a tight working environment that produces both concentration and inspiration as it allows undisturbed subjective and passionate views about ones own work. Collaborations are sought with long-term partners that can know and contribute to the studio energy and present challenging reflections or problems on each individual work.